The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1887-11-02

| ono wine glass cost the temporal and eternal
! destruction OF themselves, and all thelr lanl,
| lilies, and the whole human rae. They woulu
saw: 81 am sorry it is go ng to cost me, and
nv family, and all the worlds population SO
very much, but here it goes to my lips, ana
! now let it roll over my parchel tongue ana
| down my heated throat, the sweetest, the
most inspiring, the most rapturous thing
| that ever thrilled mortal or immortal
To cure the habit hetore 1t comes 10
is last stages, various plans were tried In
olden times. This plan was recommended In
the books: When a man wanted to reform he
f, put shot or bullets into the cup or glass Of
strong drink-one additional shot OF bullet
each day, that diSplaces so much liquor.
Bullet after bullet, added day by day, OF
course the liquor became less and less until
the bullets would entirely MI up the Slass ana
there was no room for the liquid, and by that
time it was said the inebriate would he cured.
Whether any one was ever cured in that way
I know not, but by long experiment 1t is
found that the only way is to stop short off,
and when q man does that h5 needs Goa to
help him. And there have been more cases
than you can count when God has so helped
the man that he quit forever, and could
them pillars in the house Of God.
One would suppose that men would take
warning from some Of the ominous names
given to the into1icants, and stand or from
the devastating influence. You have noticed.
TOR instance, that some Of the restaurants are
called "The Shades,n typical of the fact that
it puts mans reputation in the shade. and
his morals in the shade, and his prosperity in
the shade, and his wife and children in the
shade, and his immortal destiny in the shade.
Now, l find on some Of the liquor signs
in all our cities the words: "Old Crow"
nightly suggestive of a carcass, and the
filthy raven that swoops upon it. "Old Crow!.
orJ 1x,itbO1t nOnhprS slain OF
rum but unburied, and this evil is peckinS ut
ther glazed eyes, and pecking at their bloated
, check, and pecking at their destroyed man.
hood and w0manhOod, thrusting beak and
claw into the mortal remains of what once
W, gloriously alive but now morally dead
Old Crow!" But alas, how many take
no warning. They make me think OF
nothing; though his statue in the hall crashed
into fragments at his feet, and scroll con,
tanning the names of the conspirators was
thrust into his hands, yet walking right on to
meet the dagger that was to take his life.
This infatuation Of strong drink is so mighty
in many man that, though his fortunes are
crashing, and his health is crashing, and his
domestic interests are crashing, and we hand
| him a long scroll containing the names OF
| peris that await him, he goes straight on to
| physical, and mental, and moral assassina-
! ton. In proportion as any style of alcohol
| ism is pleasant to your taste, and stimulating
| to your nerves, and for time delightful to
| all your physical and mental constitution, is
| the peril awful. Remember Jonathan and
the forbidden honey in the woods of Beth
aren.
Furthermore, the gamester's indulgence
must be put to the list Of temptations deli
cious but destructive I have crossed tho
ocean eight times, and always one Of the best
rooms has, from morning till late at night,
been given up to gambling practices; heard
of men who went on board with enough
| money for European excursions who landed
without enough money to get their baggage
| up to the hotel or railroad station. To many
| there is a complete fascination in games OF
hazard or the risking of money on possiblll-
| ties 1t seems as natural for them to bet as
| to eat Indeed, the hunger for food is often
| overpowered with the hunger for wagers. rs
| in the case of Lord Sandwich, q persistent
| gambler, who not being willing to leave the
| dice table long enough for the taking of food,
| invented preparation of food that he could
| take without stopping the game--namely, a
| slice of beef between two slices of bread,
which was named after Lord Sandwich. 1t
| is absurd for those of US who have never felt
| the fascination of the wager to speak slight
| ingly Of the temptation. 1t has slain null
t!tude of intellectual and moral giants, men
and women stronger than you or l. Down
| under its power went glorious Oliver Gold
| smith, and Gibbcn, the historian, and Charles
Fox, the statesman, and in olden times IA
NOUS Senators of the United States, who used
to be as regularly at the gambling house all
night as they were in the halls of legislation
by day. Oh, the tragedies of the faro tablet
| l know persons VINO began with slight
stake in ladies' parlor, and ended with
the suicides pistol ut Monte Carlo They
played with the square pieces OF bone with
black marks on them, not knowing that
Satan was playing for their bones at the same Ss
time, and was sure to sweep all the stakes off
on his side of the table. The last New York
legislature sanctioned the mighty evil last
| spring by passing law for its defense at the
race tracks, and many young men in these
| cities lost all their wages at Coney Island
this summer, and this fall are borrowing
| from the money tils Of their employers OR
arranging by means Of false entries to adjust
their demoralized finances. Every man who
voted for the Ives pool bill has on his hands
| and forehead the blood OF these souls.
But in this connection some young converts
say to me: "Is it right to play cards! Is there
any harm in game of whist or euchreF'
| Well, know good men who play whist and
| euchre and other styles Of game without any
wagerS 1 had friend who played cards
with his wife and children, and then at the
| close said: "Come, now, let us haveprayers-"
will not Judge other mems conscieuces, but
I tell you that cards are, in my mind, so as
sociated with the temporal and eternal dam
nation of splendid young men, that should
no sooner say to my family: "Come, let us
have game of cards." than l would 60 into
| a mepagerie and say: "Come let US have
| game Of rattlesnakes," or into cemetery
| and sitting down by marble slab, say to
| the gravcdiggers: Come let us have game
of skulls" Conscientious young ladies are
| silently saying to me while speak: do you
| think card playing will do us any harmF'
Perhaps not, but how will you feel if in the
great day of eternity, when we are asked to
give an account of our influence, some man
Shall say to you: 81 was introduced to games
of chance in the year 1887, in Brooklyn, at
your house, and went on from thatsp to
something more exciting, and went on down
until.I lost my business, and lost my morals,
and lost my soul, and these chains that you
SEQ on my wrists and feet are the chains OF
gamblers hell" Honey at the start, eternal
catastrophe at the last
Stock gambling comes into the same cata-
logue It must be very eIhilarating to 60
into Wall street, New York, or State street,
Boston, or Third street, Philadelphia, and
depositing small sum Of money, run the risk
of taking out fortune. Manv men are do
ing an honest and safe business in the stock
market, and you are an ignoramus If you do
| not know that it is just as legitimate to
| deal in stocks as to deal in coffee, or sugar,
| or flour. But nearly all the outsiders who
| 20 there on a little financial excursion lose
all. The old spiders eat up the unsuspecting
flies. I had a friend who put his hand Oh
his hip pocket and said to me in substance:
"t have there the value of hundred and
| fifty thousand dollars" His home is to-day
penniless. What was the matter! Wall